Well I am back, what an experience Europe was!

August 02, 2018

The trip of a lifetime began with meeting my pen-friend of over 50 years in Birmingham and then getting to know each other whilst travelling around England. The exploration of Coventry, Birmingham, The Lakes District, Windsor, Stratford-Upon-Avon in as well as her hometown in Leicestershire paralleled the exploration of our blossoming relationship to replace the somewhat tentative penpal dynamic that had existed previously. Following that I went to Venice for a week of involvement in the Vogalonga.https://www.venetoinside.com/events-in-veneto/e...It was a unique if a bit gruelling event and I was very proud to claim my certificate and medal after a chaotic end to the event.The next week was spent on a tour of Tuscany before I journeyed to Rome to join a Mediterranean cruise that took in a variety of countries. After returning to Rome for 4 days I joined a bus trip to Paris that showed me parts of Switzerland as well as Italy and France culminating in a tour of Versailles and going to the Moulin Rouge. After a day seeing the Klimpt Illuminations and Claude Monet’s house & gardens (including the lily pond) my school friend flew in from Australia arrived and we had a hectic couple of days hopping on and off busses and exploring the centre of Paris. Then we travelled to Zurich for further exploring before we separated and I joined a river cruise to Amsterdam. Then I had a side trip to Austria to do the Sound of Music Tour before flying to Florence for an International Dragons Abreast Dragon Boating Regatta before returning to Rome to fly home.Exploring Europe was interesting . The Architecture, art, and culture was inspiring. Coming home into the arms of my family was wonderful.,